Water meter



April 2,1935. A, P. BUSCH 1,996,672

WATER METER Filed May 29, 1934 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 April 2,' 1935. A. P. BUSCH 1,996,672

WATER METER Filed May 29, 1934 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 A ril 2,1935. A. P. BUSCH 1,996,672

WATER METER Filed May 29, -l954 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 62 I w I I Patented Apr. 2, I 1935 .1 w m Albert P. Busch, Nogales,

' Application aia-193i; Serial mi "d Qlalmsl (Cl. 73,-''3 7) 7 fully described nane following detailed descriD- My. invention relates "tof the cuss r measuring instruments, and more especially it relates to liquid measuring meters such as are used in measuring the quantity of, water flowing through a pipe, or conduit.

, More specifically the invention relates 'to linprovements in water meters in which; a pair 0! impeller-gears are used; the impeller-gears being of a specialdesign and constituting an important part of the invention.-

- An object of the invention 'is to produce a water meter of simple construction using standard counting or registering mechanism in conjunction with-mynew -and improved impellere gear motor unit, I Further, it is anobject Further it is an object to provide 94 13811101 impeller-gears, in a case, each impeller-gear being of I-preciseIy the same. size and construction as the other and each consisting of an outer gear and aninner gear, ,ona gearwithin a gear; each impeller-gear has an; outer pitch circle upon which teeth are cut and an inner pitch circle upon which tooth-spaces are cut, the samebeing so designed that when placed together atooth of one impeller-gear will mesh with a space. of the other impeller gear and the next toothfof the second impeller-gear will mesh with a space of the first impeller-gear, and so on alternately, thus performing as ordinary gears.

: .Furtherit is an object to provide a meter whose impelling motor consists of two gears .in a case, especially designed which when rotated by the flowing water will allow only a certain quan-Y tity of water to pass per revolutionwhich results in positive displacement.

Further, it is' an object to provide the motor of the ,meteras meshing gears of the specialcon struction aforesaid in which provision is made whereby the impeller-gears are not only interchangeable butalso: will be. reversible in the case to takeup wear and hence increase theeftective life olfi the impeller-gears. r Further, it is an object to provide ameter with a motor of the characterjaforesaid iniwhich the gears are constructed to be'bu'oyant toa degree suflicient to float them in the case and thus reduce friction and wearoi the parts. I Other objects will in part be obvious and in part bepointed out hereinafter.

To the attainment oifthe'afor'esaid" objectsland ends, the invention "still 'further resides" in the novel details of construction, combination and a ran em nt risian 19 whicliivill. h ill tion, and thenbeparticularly pointed outin the appended claimsjreterence being had to the accompanyingdrawingain whichz Figure l is a top plan view of a meter constructed in accordancewithmy invention, the lid being removed so that theregistering'dial's may clearly beseen.

' Figure 2-is a side elevation in full of the meter Figure 5 isa horizontal section taken on the line 5- 5 of Figure-2.

. ure 6 isavertical sectiontaken on line i0 li iofFigurel. I

Figures/Rand 8 are detailed diagrammatic views of a portion or the'impeller-gears showing how the teeth and spaces cooperate.

In the-drawings in which like numeralsoi I referenceindicate like parts inalloithe figures I 7 represents the case casting which is provided with aninlet neck 2 and an outlet neck 4, the

necks being respectively threaded at 3 and 5 for couplingto the-waterline.

The-case casting is provided with a recess to receive-a gasket Band in which aportion of the registering mechanis mr containing casting 9 fits. The casting Land the casting 9 are provided with lugs 1 and ,III- respectively with which the cap screwsI I cooperate to secure the parts I and 9 together. The part9 is chambered to receivethe registeringmechanism unit and-italso comprises acovenior the casti ng I which comprises the motor chamber. 7

The casting I within the motor chamberis providedwith a pair ofpivots or bearing studs 8', one for each impeller-gear-.,5Il. The casting 9 1s also-provided withpivots or bearing studs I2 cooperating with the lugs 8. I I

The stud-11hr. one of the impeller gearsis drilled to comprise, a bearing-for the driving shaft 30., The casting 9 has a stufling box neck I3 on which i s a stuillng box nut. I4 to seal the. shaft '30 againstpassage of water through the bearing I2 and'neck It;

receivetheregistering mechanism unit, the upper end 95 the chamber being provided with a s'eat' J5 on" which theftop plate I8 ortheiregistering mechanism unit lies and against whichit is firmly heldby resilient strips I9 interposed between the plate 8 and the cover lll which is hinged at 2I to, the casting Sand is held place'b'y a spring latch-23 which is, slotted asat 24 to fit over, the

ape t rcd 1'48 3 ,Q t er. M14 ep riu lug The castingz9, as betore stated, ischambered to I r the other end);3 3; fits intojaisquared's'ccket Lot a being adapted for the reception of a padlock (not shown). The registering mechanism unit may be of any approved construction. It includes the top plate l8, the bottom plate IS, the spacer rods I! which'are rivete'd;to; the platescglfi 64:8 and thereby constitute with'the plates a' rigidlibldr for the registering works. The cover is pro-" vided with a window flange in which is held-h the inner-gear. The teeth and spaces and the cylindrical surfaces at 58 are so designed that there will always be a tooth within a space; thus the two impeller members 50 operate directlvlas fl me shing gears and obviate thenecessity of providing other means toprevent slippage taking place between the two impeller members or roglass plate 26 by means of a spring ringzl tsee Qlindicates a screen within the case I over the Figure 6), the window being normally covered against the. action of sand and gravel which may alid 28 hinged at 29 to the coverZlkIi-- 7 The shaft 30 has its ends ,sguared as at, 31 and l 33 so that it may be reversibleif when as:

sired, one squared end, 'say 3!, being received in the upper recess 32 of an impeller-gear 5|], while coupling member' 34 carried bythe firstmotor 'Shaft35 (ifs-the i 'egistering' 'mebhan isrniln 5 Y The shaft 35 is'rnounted n-b'ear-ings' mjth'e plates l5 and +8 andearr'ies a swarm 36-' \ivhich meshes with a'worm gear-3T on a-shaft 38 rotatable in a bearing BIT mounted onthe peta -lemme shaft 38 also carries a worm 39-which'-in't;1 nn

meshes with aworm'gear '40 one shaft fl 'which comprises the first registering shaiti *The sha ft 4! is mounted in bearings intheplates l5 andi8 and at its upper end it' earries a pointer-'42 which cooperates with a' dial 43 to indicate up to ten gallons u 7 :3:

On the shaft I I is a spurfgear flfthat meshes with another spur gear-15j-ori anintermediate shaft 46 whichis also-mefinted in "the-plates the driving wormg ear m' bf the main registering unit 49. The, construction oaths-uni I'll-may be-that of any wellknowrrregistering mechanism adapted for the purpose ana per s'e constitutes no part of the presentinve'ritiom ili therefore consider it unnecessary :to illustrate in idetail' the construction "of i this "unit? *Sufiice' it-to' say'that the unit is made up-o'f' a series-pr registering disks or counters; which showth'e --total=- number of gallons of water 'passedfthrough the meterx 50 designates the impeller-gearsfthe' construe? tion of which may be best understood-by reference to Figures}; and 51 They compris'ebodies 'hollowed' to provide 'cha ml'iers- 51 "-vvlt -ii 'h'"give buoyancy to the impeller gearsso as tofcause them to float, as ia-werepwams-me gear cham bers and thereby'prev'ent thewelghtfo'fthe'i'mpeller-gears from be'corning' a-j ric'tion factor in the machine, the outer:gear teethare-indicated by the numeral -54 and theinn'ergeai s'paces are indicated by the numeral 55,

While I prefer tomake 'the'impeller-gears of hard rubber, it is obvious thatthey may be made of any other material suitable 'for the purpose. Each impeller-gear has a bearing recess 52 its top and bottom faces tofit the lugs Sand I'Z re spectivel'y regardless of ,whe'therjthe impeller- I gear is put in'with-one-iace 'up"or down. Each of the bearings} and I2 are er the same size,

teeth and inneregear spaces. Byfreferen'ceto Fig'ures'l and 8 it will beseen'a ae 56; indicates the addendumcircle of"the outer gear;*5'l -indi cate s the pitch circle of the outerearj' 58 indi'' cates thewhole depth :circlejof th' l tier-gear and the addendum cirel'ej of" the-inner-gear which is coincident withthelwhole depthcircle of the'outer gear; 59 indicates the pitchfcirclef'of theinner gear; and 60 indicatesthe-whoie' depth circleo'f inner end of the inlet neck 2 to protect the rotors be carried in.v the. water stream.

whileonlyonesquared recess in the top of one oflthezimpeller-gears is all that is necessary to transmit the revolutions to the registering mechanism,' 'yet at the same time both impeller-gears are recessed'in both top and bottom which allows for; the interchangeability hereinbefore referred to. It will also be noted that by resting the registering mechanism unit on the seat 15 and holding it-inplacebymeans ofth'e-cover 29 and resilient strips '1 9-, it is an easy matter to remove theregis tering mechanism'or works.' Simply release the cover20"fromthelatch23 and swing'it back on its hinge; this gives access to the registering mechanism 'unit whichmay then be lifted out of thechamber'ofthe casing 9* forrepairs' or replacements if-necessar'y; 7 Asbefore intimated, the" twoimpeller-gears are alike in every respect-same diameter, same number of teeth, tooth-spacesand faces; Of course, itshould beunderstood that a pairof gears-of greaterdiameterand using thesame size of tooth wouldrequire more-teeth and tooth spaces correctly to fit the greaterdiameter, It is also to be noted that the whole depth line of the outer gear of a memberS forms the addendum linefor'the inner'g'ear. The cl'earancespa'ce which all gears must have-"or that spacebetween theworking depth lineand the whole depth line at the meshing--;pointis to be conside'red not as leakage. Theli'qui'd which enters "this clearance space is being constantly-thrown back intothe inletchamber or'space'of'thecase i. T It is a certain and pesitive quantity pereach revolution of the impeller g'earsand is taken care of in the registers calculations; 2 g l As-before stated, Ido-not deem it necessary to go into a "detailed explanation of the registering mechanism per se, as has been done with the other part of the machine'since no fixed set of 'gearslworms and worm-gears can be usedfor all sizes *e'r meters. fFor'example, a pair of 'impellergears-ofconsistentsizefora water meter, displacing onlya fraction of a gallon of'water per revolution would require" many revolutions in ordertoregister ten gallons for one revolution of medial 'pointer'on the dial (see Figure" l), in

'whicIr-casethe maximum ofigears, worms and "throughwhere'the impellergears aremeshing, it

divides to, right and left; taking a course on'the insideperipherypf the ,case casting l and the spaces in'between the teethandon around to the outlet'portion The teeth of the impellerg'earsa'ct as'obstructions; and'as such' are impelled around in rotary motion by the flow of the water. Each tooth also acts as a measuring point or, in other words, the quantity of water in between two teeth is a certain and positive amount, which makes for a feature known as positive displacement.

Maximum displacement is another feature because of the way the gears are designed, or, in other words, where. the teeth take up a certain amount of water space, this is balanced by the tooth space of the inner gear. Still another feature of the invention is positive performance; in other words, the water cannot pass around without rotating the gears. As before indicated, the movement of the impeller-gears is made through the shaft 38 to the registering mechanism to operate the same, as will be clearly understood by reference to the drawings.

From the foregoing description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, it is thought that the construction, operation and advantages of the invention will be clear to those.

skilled in the art to which it appertains.

What I claim is: 1. In a water meter having a registering mechanism, a water-flow operated motor to actuate impeller-gear, the case having its ends curved to conform to the addenda circles of the outer-gears of the impeller-gears, the inlet and outlet for the water in said case being located one at one side and the other at the other side of the plane containing the axes of the two impeller-gears,

the teeth of the outer gear being of the spur gear type and having their side faces symmetrically arranged and having their outer'faces of sufficient width to provide a surface contact with the case, the teeth of each outer gear having rolling contact with the walls of the inner gear with which they engage.

2. In a water meter having a registering mechanism, a water-flow operated motor to actuate said mechanism and comprising a case having a water inlet and a water outlet adapted to be connected in a water line. a pair of impeller-gears rotatably mounted in said case, an operating connection between one of said impeller-gears and the registering mechanism, each impeller-gear being a duplicate of the other and each comprising an inner gear and an outer-gear, the whole depth circle of each outer-gear coinciding with the addendum circle of the inner-gear, the innergear of one impeller-gear having spaces to receive the teeth of the outer-gear of the other impellergear, the case having its ends curved to conform to the addenda circles of the outer-gears ofthe impeller-gears, the inlet and outlet for the water in said case being located one at one side and the other at the other side of the plane containing the axes of the two impeller-gears, each of said im- 3 peller-gears being hollow. to render the same buoyant, the teeth of the outer gear being of the spur gear type and having their side faces symmetrically arranged and having their outer faces of sufiicient Width to provide a surface contact with the case, the teeth of each outer gear having rolling contact with the walls of the inner gear with which they engage. V

3. Ina water meter having a registeringmechanism, a water-flow operated motor to actuate said mechanism and comprising a case having a water inlet and a water outlet adapted to becon nected in a water line, a pair of impeller-gears rotatably mounted in said case, an'operating connection between one of said impeller-gears'and the registering mechanism, each impeller-gear being a duplicate of the other and eachcomprising an inner-gear and an outer-gear, the whole depth circle of. each outer-gear coinciding with the addedum circle of the inner-gear, theinnere' gear of one impeller-gear having spaces to receive the teeth of the outer-gear of the other impellergear, the case having its ends curved to conform to'the'addenda circles of the outer-gears of the impeller-gears, the inlet and outlet for'the water in said case being located one at one side and the side faces symmetrically arranged and havingtheir outer faces of suflicient width to provide a surface contact with the case, the teeth of each cuter gear having rolling contact with the walls of the inner gear with which they engage.

4. In a water meter having a registering mechanism, a water-flow operated motor to actuate said mechanism and comprising a case having a water inlet and a water outlet adapted to be connected in a water line, a pair of impeller-gears rotatably mounted in said case, an operating con nection between one of said impeller-gears and the registering mechanism, each impeller-gear being a duplicate of the other and each comprising an inner-gear and an outergear, the whole depth circle of each outer-gear coinciding with the addendum circle of the inner-gear, the innergear of one impeller-gear having spaces to receive theteeth of the outer-gear of the other impellergear, the case having its ends curved toconform to the addenda circles of the outer-gears of the impeller-gears, the inlet'and outlet for the water in said case being located one at one side and the other at the other side of the plane containing the axes of the two impeller-gears, each of said impeller-gears being hollow to render the same buoyant, and each impeller-gear being provided in its top and bottom faces with like bearing recesses and squared shaft sockets for purposes described, the teeth of the outer gear being of the-spur gear type and having their side faces symmetrically arranged and having their outer faces of sufiicient width to provide a surface contact with the case, the teeth of each'outer gear having rolling contact with the walls of the inner gear with whichthey engage. ALBERT P. BUSCI-I. 

